The deal was reported to be worth £5.8 billion when it was first announced in April 2024.
DS Smith told Letsrecycle.com: “We’re delighted that the combination is now complete, creating a truly international, sustainable, packaging solutions leader that is well positioned in attractive and growing markets across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and North America.”
IP is packaging company based in Memphis, Tennessee, in the United States of America.
The agreed terms of the acquisition were reported to see 0.1285 of new shares issued of IP common stock for each ordinary share of DS Smith.
It was previously reported that DS Smith shareholders now hold approximately 33.7% of the combined entity, while International Paper shareholders own the remaining 66.3%.
It is expected that tomorrow (4 February 2025) the new shares of IP common stock will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange under “IP” and on the London Stock Exchange via a secondary listing under the symbol “IPC”.
Andrew K. Silvernail, chairman and CEO of IP, commented: “The combination of International Paper and DS Smith will create the world’s leading sustainable packaging company.
“With a differentiated geographic footprint and an unparallelled suite of sustainable packaging products and services, we will accelerate growth, improve profitability and serve our customers even better.”
The acquisition is projected to generate minimum cash savings of $514 million (£417 million) within four years through “operational synergies” across the integrated network of mills, box plants and global supply chain.
This includes the reduction of duplicated overheads and leveraging increased scale for procurement.
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